Pot or not?

Tom Westfall

Guest columnist

Posted:
01/31/2014 10:06:09 AM MST

Tom Westfall Guest columnist

"How high are you? I mean, Hi, how are you?" The new Colorado greeting? It could very well be in light of the Jan. 1 enactment of the amendment to the Colorado Constitution that legalized the recreational use of cannabis. We're nearly a month into this experiment, which has garnered a lot of attention both locally in Colorado and across the nation, and although time will be the ultimate judge of the decision the Colorado voters made, at first blush, things seem to be off to a relatively calm start. (I was tempted to say a "mellow" start but that just seemed too easy.)

The proponents of the legalization movement — a joint effort I'm sure — are pleased with the manner in which this change in Colorado law has occurred. Seemingly overnight, pot shops exploded onto the scene with customers lining up, sometimes for blocks, to legally purchase marijuana. News media from around the world flocked to Denver to get interviews, video footage and sound-bites. It was a circus-like atmosphere, replete with customers in costumes, and shop keepers in 1960's garb looking like they had just awakened, a la Rip Van Winkle, from a 50 year nap.

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There have been a few reported burglaries associated with the head shops, and a couple of "driving under the influence" incidences, but in the first month of the new law, Colorado hasn't been sucked into a vortex of evil, our children haven't become overnight addicts, and no one has introduced legislation to make marijuana our official state flower. Even President Obama weighed in, offering his opinion that marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol. (Apparently he knows more about this than he did about Benghazi or the freedom invading tactics of the NSA!)

Not to "harsh anyone's buzz" but "the rest of the story" relative to the legalization of pot has yet to be told. It will take several years, perhaps even decades, before the full impact of this decision is known. How is this going to affect our young people? Proponents assure us that it is illegal for anyone under 21 to consume this drug, but we all know that this won't be the case. Alcohol use remains illegal for anyone under 21, and we see how well that's working. Pot won't be any different, and in all likelihood, the frequency of teen use/abuse will increase dramatically.

And how about the agencies that have to deal with those that "abuse" the drug? Local law enforcement agencies, the State Highway Patrol, and Human Services, just to name a few. We've written laws about "driving under the influence," but what about "parenting under the influence?" I wouldn't anticipate a lot of parenting violence occurring as a result of pot use, but I can certainly envision an increase in "lack of parental supervision" cases because pot tends to "space out" many of its users and small children require almost constant supervision, a hard task to manage when stoned.

In the name of transparency and full disclosure let me say that I smoked pot in college, and I enjoyed it. When I got married however, and began thinking about having a family, I realized that for me, getting high was antithetical to my parenting goals. I wanted to be alert, involved, engaged and a positive role model. I've not met many parents who openly hope that their children grow up to be pot heads.

The libertarian part of me says that I should rejoice in the increased freedom that the legalization of pot affords people. The problem as I see it however, is that the existential dilemma (because we're truly free, we are also completely responsible for the decisions we make) is almost counter-culture to today's beliefs, because freedom has become license, and personal responsibility is no longer a strong value having been replaced with the notion of "underachieved entitlement."

I voted against Amendment 64. Not because pot is evil and not because I want to deprive people of a choice. I voted against it because I think the long term effects of legalization won't be positive. The medical implications of pot use in young people (under age 25) are being studied and the results are increasingly pointing to the negative outcomes associated with early pot use. Our young people don't need one more "legal" obstacle in their lives — they have plenty to contend with already.

The social contract of society suggests that ultimately we give up certain of our personal freedoms for the collective benefit of society. Pot happens to be one of those "freedoms" that probably should have been sacrificed. I hope I'm wrong. I suspect I'm not.

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